Is it too late to ask the government not to scrap the old buses in Malta? These are unique to the Maltese Islands and are part of the national heritage. Does Malta have to be the same as all the other EU countries? I am sure these could be upgraded and at a cheaper price than the amount of compensation on offer. Besides, the owners would be happier to keep them as these are more likely to have been handed down from their fathers and grandfathers over the years.

The same happened in the UK. When councils sold the routes to a private company, the fares went up and up. No doubt the same will happen over here.

I was shocked last time I went to the UK two years ago at how much it cost me to travel the distance of three stops. When I commented that I could go from one end of Malta to the other at the same price, I was sworn at. Although sometimes the Maltese drivers could be a little more polite to passengers, I have never yet been sworn at.

So please, can I appeal once more to the government to think again? And by the way, have they ever seen the tourists taking photos of these buses, posing beside them? They won’t be doing that with the new ones. They won’t have the same pull in a museum.

Pamela Cawford

St Paul’s Bay